Bills shuffle roster with five transactions

The Buffalo Bills made a flurry of roster moves Tuesday, placing CB Terrence McGee and RT Erik Pears on injured reserve. The club also released kickoff specialist John Potter and elevated Marcus Easley to the 53-man roster.

For McGee and Pears it was a trying season. McGee was trying to return from offseason patellar tendon surgery, but his knee never fully recovered to allow him to practice on a day in and day out basis. His knee would consistently swell after activity, which is why he had to play a rotational role this season.

McGee has had a lengthy list of injury problems each of the previous three seasons. The veteran cornerback has not played in more than 11 games in any of the last four seasons. Three of his last four seasons have ended on injured reserve. He has a year left on his contract with the Bills.

For Pears the struggles weren’t all that different this year. After offseason surgery to repair a groin/hip problem, he started in the first seven games, but was not 100 percent. He missed last week’s game at Houston after seeing a specialist, but was shut down for the season as well.

The subtraction of McGee and Pears leaves Buffalo with four healthy cornerbacks with Aaron Williams out for a few weeks and just seven offensive linemen on the roster. There figure to be additions to address the depth at both positions.

Potter releasedRookie kickoff specialist John Potter was seen as a potential boon to Buffalo’s kickoff coverage team. With a strong leg it was hoped that Potter could force teams into touchbacks and take hits off the coverage unit.

Potter however, wasn’t as successful as anticipated forcing touchbacks on just 13 of his 26 kickoffs for the Bills. He was inactive for each of the last two games as the team turned to veteran kicker Rian Lindell to handle kickoffs.

Easley elevated to active rosterThe Bills also announced that the team has promoted WR Marcus Easley to the 53-man roster. Easley’s first two seasons never got off the ground as he was on injured reserve in 2010 and 2011. The former fourth-round pick has been on the team’s practice squad since the beginning of the season.

Practice squad additionTaking Easley’s spot on the practice squad Tuesday was WR Chris Hogan, who was signed by the club. Hogan, 6-1, 220-pound Monmouth (N.J.) product entered the NFL as an undrafted free agent with San Francisco in 2011. He spent a portion of 2011 on the Practice Squads of the New York Giants and Miami Dolphins.